Nun of Your Business

Years ago, in 2001/2004, I wrote an arrangement of the Guru Puja so that I could chant it in English to the Tibetan tunes. Even though I have settled on my favorite tunes, you could use any of the many alternative Tibetan tunes you like. You see, I just set the verses to the traditional Tibetan meter, usually nine syllables per line. I did this for my own practice, but some other people have shown an interest in performing the puja in this way. For this purpose, I recently recorded a group performance of this puja and have begun to upload some tracks to Internet Archive. I am editing the recording, cutting the puja into meaningful sections of several verses each. As I get the sections edited, I will continue to upload them. In the future, I might also record alternate tunes. Here is the link for the page where these recordings will continue to be uploaded. https://archive.org/details/GuruPujaEnglishChant Here is a sample: Enjoy.

Today, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 2012, I listened to a recording of the original "I Have a Dream" speech on the radio . I suddenly got the impression of a sadhana--that the speech is a sort of sadhana. Take the King of Prayers --not actually a sadhana but a much recited sutra. It takes you on a journey into other dimensions, possibilities, possibilities where people achieve their highest potential, achieve liberation, come to live in harmony with everything around them.

Why do we recite mantras in a foreign language--Sanskrit--a language that we don't understand? And why don't the lamas usually tell us the meaning of the words in the mantra? I came across this interesting passage in a mystery novel:

Here is a new recording of a tune for the Yonten Zhigyurma prayer, chanted in Tibetan by Venerable Steve Carlier; it's just a few verses to give you the idea. This is the original for the prayer that I have arranged in English as  The Basis of All Good Qualities . Link to this MP3 file on Archive.org Notice that the last line of each verse is recited twice, except for verse 3 which is carried over into verse 4.

The Basis of All Good Qualities: a review of the Graded Path to Enlightenment Tibetan: Yönten Zhirgyurma Commonly called: The Foundation of All Good Qualities Composed by: Je Tsong Khapa English arrangement for chanting by: Gelongma Losang Drimay First published 2008, slightly modified (first 2 verses) in May 2009 Right reliance on the kind guru— The basis of all good qualities— Is the root of the path. Bless me to See this and rely with great respect. Precious freedom of this one-time life Is so meaningful and hard to find. Bless me with the mind which day and night Always takes its essence without cease. Like a water bubble, this life is Fleeting—it decays and then death comes. After death, your good and bad karma Follow you around like a shadow. Knowing this with a firm conviction, I'll give up even small non-virtues, And take up all virtuous actions. Bless me to live conscientiously. Knowing how samsaric pleasures are Disappointing, unreliable— Seeking them just leads to suffer...